A Red Love Bizarre, or The Roswell Chest
by Pepperstasia Beaverhausen
Summary: Mulder and Scully meet Micki, Ryan, and Jack in a Madcap adventure of Awesome!


F13:TS and X-Files crossover story, be-otch...

Title: A Red Love Bizarre, Otherwise Known as The Roswell Chest

Author: Pepperstasia Beaverhausen

Rating: R for strong ass sexual content and plenty of cussing

Categories: Crossover, MRR, MSR, bits of humor and angst. You know, the usual.

Alternating various POV's, though this is mainly Ryan and Mulder's show

Spoilers: slight mentions of "Tooms" "The Pilot" and "Chinga" for the X-Files and

"The Baron's Bride" and "The Inheritance" for F13:TS

Timeline: Season six for X-Files, around beginning of Season two for F13:TS

Author's Notes and the Disclaimer: The characters involved in this story are not mine, they

are the inventions of Chris Carter and Frank (to the) Mancuso, Jr. I'm just borrowing them

to entertain you. Anyhoo, I've been writing X-Files fanfic for years, but just recently got hipped

back to the Friday the 13th: The Series scene that I used to love so much I got to stay up

late to watch it when I was 9. I realized that these two sets of characters have an extraordinarily

similar bent, and the mind started to wander a bit. And here it goes...

4-18-1989 {Ryan}

What a life. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't quit college, hadn' t

had my name basically pulled out of a hat along with Micki's to inherit this store and end up in

the current situation that I am in.

I have no choice. These objects that are out there are killing people, and we're both in too

deep at this point to just walk away and let the other person die. Let alone, anyone else who

comes in contact with Uncle Lewis' cursed curios.

It's just...frustrating, at times, for a number of reasons. It is impossible to live normal

lives and get involved in romance and the like. Anyone that any of us has gotten close to has died,

and I read somewhere that if you are denied a basic human need for too long, like sex, that you

can develop certain physical and mental issues. I'm worried; frankly, it's been a while.

Among the other elements that drive my point home is living in close quarters with one

of the sexiest women I've ever encountered and knowing that I have zero chance with her.

Sure, she isn't blood relation, but Micki is still billed as my cousin, and the exact words out

of her mouth were, "Nothing would be stranger than being involved with Ryan."

I agree with this. I also can't help but be constantly turned on by her every move, and

therefore, end up feeling perverted, but I don't know what else to do. Micki floats by me

everyday, braless and flawless.

Oh yeah, did I fail to mention that I've noticed that she rarely wears underwear and

*always* goes braless? Yet, her breasts defy every law of gravity. Her body can turn even

the most shapeless of outfits into every man's wet dream, and her face...enchantingly

gorgeous framed by a thick, curly red mane; she's definitely got the face of an angel and a

body for sin.

I'm a hopeless case, I know. It's tough though when I feel like she's the only woman

I will ever completely relate to.

Damn Uncle Lewis. Too bad you're already in hell or I'd try to send you there

myself.

*******************************************

4-18-1999 {Mulder}

I can't remember exactly when I first started lusting after Scully. It must have been the

underwear incident, sticking in my brain like Pavlovic response. As the years have gone by,

however, I've grown to be *in love* with her, and it's just getting more difficult to carry on a

professional pretense.

Scully is the most important person in my life.

It's gotten pretty bad in the later years of our partnership, the whole lust/love

thing. She's blossomed into this very strong, sexy, secure woman that I catch myself

just *staring* at, constantly. My want of her has metastacized in such a way that I can't even

consider the possibility of being romantically involved with anyone else.

There's not even a blip on my radar, because Scully *is* the radar, at this

point.

No one else will ever understand me like she does. We've been through too many

strange incidences that no one else could even try to comprehend. Our relationship has

slipped into comfortable, casual flirtation that goes no further than me coming home from

being near her all day and beating off.

I can't jeopardize what we already have, because I am hopelessly addicted to

Scully and the thought of her being out of my life would kill me.

"Mulder?" Scully snaps me out of my reverie, visually tantalizing me in a tight

Donna Karan amber suit with short skirt and low cut white tank. She leans over my

desk and hands me a file, "I think you should take a look at this."

**********************************************

4-19-1989 {Ryan}

"Ryan, I've got the mail!" Micki calls to me, still wearing her impossibly sexy ivory

silk pegnoir, breasts and hair bouncing slightly as she makes her way to me back upstairs.

We're closed for the day; Jack and I have been patching the floor as the result of another

cursed object's aftermath has once again fucked up our storefront. We let Micki sleep in,

she just woke a few minutes ago and promptly went to gather the mail for our next possible

mission. She's just so unaware of her appeal, boldly stepping outside in her nightgown, not

giving a second thought to the fact that she just gave every man in the neighborhood morning

wood. For a while I believed she knew what she was doing to the male population, but the

more I know her, the less sure of that theory I am.

Micki sidles up to next to me at the table with a fresh cup of coffee in one hand and

the mail in the other, "I think I saw an answer to a mailer in there." she murmurs between

sips and hands the mail to me.

"The address is from Oregon, a town called Levettston." I comment as I examine the

envelope and open the contents.

Jack looks up from where he is finishing sanding the wood square we patched,

"What does it say?"

"A lady there is responding about the Oval Shaped Chest. Quote: 'It creeps me out,

it keeps glowing and making noises. My stupid cousin left it in my barn, went missing, and

I don't even want to touch it. Come get this thing, please.' Signed, Elaine Duquet. Well, this

should be an easy one."

Jack has already made it to the Manifest and promptly looks it right up, "Oval

Shaped Chest, circa 1940's. It was built by an early pioneer of space exploration. I picked

it up in Roswell, New Mexico in the 1970's and sold it to Lewis..."

"Who has since cursed it." Micki finishes, "She's a smart girl not to go near it.

Maybe we should bring rubber gloves, just in case, Ryan." she nudges me with her elbow.

It's hard to concentrate, her breasts are still jiggling a little at this action.

"Uh, yeah, rubber gloves." I murmur, forcing myself to snap out of it.

"Well, I'd better get dressed." Micki says, slamming the rest of her coffee and

heading for her room.

********************************************

4-19-1999 {Mulder}

Scully and I are just arriving in Portland, Oregon by plane and from here are taking

a rental car to a small town called Levettston, about 15 miles outside of the city. We

recieved a report of a possibly paranormal murder and a disappearance. The murder

victim had been found apparently mauled by a creature unidentifiable by the victim's

wounds on a farm where the missing person resided. Obviously, the case's elements

deemed it an X-File, and we are now on our way to immediately investigate the crime

scene first, then talk to the Sheriff and try to interview any eyewitnesses at this point.

I keep taking small, covert glances at her on the drive out there. Scully's wearing

the black Chanel suit today, the one with the slit halfway up the thigh of her knee-length,

form fitting skirt. I am gifted with snatches of thigh, toned and perfect.

"Penny for your thoughts, Mulder." Scully purrs in her constantly amazing phone

sex voice.

"Just ruminating." I say, trying to keep it light, "About the case." I add.

"What's to ruminate? Ten to one, the so-called 'missing' person is the perpetrator

of the murder. You know it's never that easy, though."

"I love how you contradict yourself now, Scully." I joke, not being able to stop

myself from cracking a small grin.

"Comes from years of working with you, Mulder." she counters back.

"Who needs marriage when you have the FBI?"

Scully and I arrive at the address, located one mile down a dirt road off the town

highway. We proceed to the location of the barn where the murder took place and find the

chalk outline. Scully surveys the area and immediately discovers residue. It's a yellowish-

red goo that's splatter pattern goes along the wall and floor.

"Looks like some struggle." I comment, following the splatter goo and blood mix

trail amid a sea of knocked over crates and bloody straw.

"So, the property owner, Elaine Duquet, was reported missing around 48 hours

after the determined time of death. There is no apparent link between her and the victim,

Marc Dupree, yet his dead body is found severely mauled. Reasoning suggests that whoever

did this to the victim may have also abducted Ms. Duquet." Scully recaps as she snaps on

plastic gloves and begins to collect forensic samples.

Watching her do this is poetry, by the way.

"I don't know, Scully. I think my instinct is telling me there's more to it than this."

I say, breaking my gaze to continue my lead. Wait--

What the heck is that?

"Scully, I think maybe you should come take a look at this," I call as I spy a

faintly glowing, bigger looking object behind a few of the overturned crates, "The splatter

trail ends back here."

"What is it?"

I move aside the crates to reveal what looks like a chest of oval and chrome. It

seems to glow a silvery blue color, and when I get closer, I hear faint murmuring voices

seeming to come from the inside. That's when I see the symbol by the lock, front and

center.

I look up, "Know anything about Demonology, Scully?"

*****************************************************

4-19-1989 {Ryan}

Jack, Micki, and I piled into the Mercedes after lunch and began the drive to

Levettston.

"I have a theory about this chest." Jack begins from the backseat, rifling

through clippings he gathered to do research in the car on the way, "The man who

built the chest, a Mr. Frank Dahl, also studied tesseracts and possible time travel,

along with working with the space program. My guess is that Lewis may have used

these elements to exacerbate this particular curse. We may have to tread cautiously."

"Whatever the case, we know that it takes a victim." Micki says, twisting a

bit in her seat to talk to Jack and giving me a nice view of the side of her right breast,

"The question is, how?"

I can't answer at first, she *is* wearing a very low cut white off-the-shoulder

sundress that does wonders for the imagination, "The main objective is just to get

there, grab it, and go. What happens after that, we wing it." I crack, trying to refocus

my concentration on the road.

"Ryan, it's always a good idea to know what we're up against." Jack argues,

"Preparation is key in dealing with these items."

"I agree." Micki pipes in, "Don't be foolish, we wouldn't want anything happening

to that adorable little face." she jokes as she playfully pinches my cheek.

"What, I was kidding! I'll be careful, I promise." I counter, cracking a smile.

We arrive at the farm of Elaine Duquet about a few hours later. It's a nice sunny

day as we make our way to the front door of the farmhouse, and we're greeted by a

blonde in her late twenties before we can even knock.

"You guys from Curious Goods?" she asks as she eyes us up and down, one

by one.

"Yes, hello! I'm Micki Foster and these are my partners, Ryan Dallion and Jack

Marshak." She offers up a perfectly manicured hand for Elaine to shake.

"We can skip the pleasantries; I don't want any money out of you. I just want that

thing gone." Elaine says, not-so-politely refusing Micki's offer of a handshake, "It's in the

barn and you're welcome to it. I'm gonna go back inside and watch Wapner."

She was gone as abruptly as she appeared.

Easy Breezy--usually we have to fight the owner in some way because they're

already affected by the cursed item. The curse generally casts some kind of spell over them

and pushes them to commit acts of murder, or worse.

Elaine was handing this particular item over on a silver platter. Strange.

We walk to the barn, Jack leading the way. I lag a little behind Micki so I can

check out her behind, which I get silhouettes of beneath her full skirt.

Fuck you, Uncle Lewis.

Jack pushes the barn door open, and there it is. The chest is chrome and

oval shaped, just like the Manifest described.

Micki reaches into her white hobo bag and pulls out three pairs of rubber gloves,

the kind you wash dishes with, "Preparation is key." she echoes Jack's earlier statement

as she hands a set to each of us.

Jack circles the chest, examining, "It's most definitely emanating some sort of

power," he notes, "Notice the faint glow, and the whispered voices. Oh, I think I've found

something...a symbol. This must be how Lewis cursed it."

"What does it mean?" I ask, Micki and I crouching next to him to look.

"I'm not sure; it's demonic, but I've never run into this particular incantation

before." Jack scratches his beard, perplexed.

"Should we just pick a side and get it in the car?" Micki suggest, "It doesn't

seem like we should stick around, considering Elaine's warm welcome."

"Micki's right." I agree as we get on either side of the chest, "No use

wasting daylight here."

As all of us touch the chest to lift it however, something goes terribly wrong.

My hands feel glued to the thing and I see Micki and Jack struggling as well. Meanwhile,

the chest is glowing brighter and brighter, and the last thing that I hear is a faint,

menacing voice chuckling, "My time for yours." What happened next is a blur...

*********************************************************

4-19-1999 {Mulder}

"Demonology?" Scully smirks at me, "Really, Mulder?"

"We've seen stranger things; Eugene Tooms, Scully, remember?" I comment.

Currently, I'm crouched next to the chest and she's standing almost too near. I want to

touch the bare skin at the top of that slit so badly, it's maddening. Focus, Mulder.

"Among the other oddities of our working partnership; I remember." Scully

sighs, letting her signature eyebrow arch, "Do you have any theories?"

Before I can answer her, the chest begins to shake, and a bright light pours

from the keyhole. It's temporarily blinding.

"Mulder! What's happening?!" Scully exclaims, shielding her eyes.

"You got me!" I answer back. The light is LOUD, if that makes any sense at

all, and I find myself yelling.

Three people appear before our eyes as the light dies down. What the hell is

going on? They're yelling as if they've been caught off guard in some way; there's an older

bearded man wearing a trenchcoat and fedora, a dark brown-haired male in his twenties

along with a redhead of around the same age with the biggest hair I've ever seen. All three

are wearing rubber gloves.

Scully gains her bearings before I do and draws her Glock, "FBI!" she announces,

still somewhat visually blown away by what happened, "Freeze!"

Three sets of gloved hands reach for the sky.

"Ryan, what just happened? Jack!" the redhead looks around frantically. She appears

quite distressed.

"I don't know!" the man she addressed as Ryan says, "Look, we don't want any trouble."

he pleads with us, "We have no idea how we got here."

"How did you just appear out of thin air, then?" Scully pushes, visibly shaken.

Jack, the elder gentleman, pipes up, "We're antique dealers, and we came to pick up

this chest. As soon as we touched it, we were somehow transferred to this place."

I find myself believing him, his story does jibe somehow with the symbol by the lock.

"What are your names?" I ask as I motion for Scully to stand down.

The redhead, still holding up her hands starts, "I'm Micki Foster, this is Ryan Dallion

and Jack Marshak."

"Special Agent Fox Mulder. This is my partner, Special Agent Dana Scully. You

can put your hands down." I say reassuringly.

"Mulder, do you think that's wise? They might be our perps." Scully nudges me

in my side.

"Not likely. Look at how off-guard they are. I think they're victims of a Tesser." I

state, causing her to look confused.

Jack seems impressed, "You're familiar with the Tesseract?"

"Yeah, a wrinkle in the continuum that causes matter to skip time," I explain,

mostly to Scully, "I've seen this particular symbol on the chest in a book that blends

demonology with the effects of time travel."

"What branch of the FBI do you work for?" Jack queries, "You seem to know quite

a bit about the occult."

"It's our job." Scully defends, "We're with the X-Files."

"Unexplained cases?" Ryan perks up, then nudges Micki, "You mean, for once

we have law enforcement on our side?"

"That remains to be seen." Scully tells him. She still has her guard up, what is

happening is beyond rational explanation and her reaction is normal.

Jack seems to get hit with an epiphany, "What year is this, Agent Mulder?"

"1999." I answer, at the same time Scully asks, "What kind of question is that?"

"So we're stuck ahead in time *ten* years?" Micki despairs, "How will we

possibly get back?"

"You're from 1989 then?" Things just keep getting stranger, but at the same time

are making sense. What they are wearing seemed a little out of date; the last time I

saw a Depeche Mode t-shirt like the one Ryan is wearing was around that point in time.

"Ten years, I can't believe this." Ryan grumbles, kicking a little at the ground.

"Maybe we should try to sit down together and figure this all out." Jack suggests.

"Mulder, we still have a job to do, remember?" Scully reminds me.

"Of course, Scully." I answer her, "However, these people could provide some

insight into our investigation; why don't we split up, you go talk to the Sheriff and I'll take

these three to the hotel to get settled in and touch base. We'll meet up after to interview

eyewitnesses together."

"Finally, some logic." Scully sighs, glancing again at our three new guests,

"Call me on my cell when you get there." With this, she leans in a little closer to me,

allowing me a scent of vanilla as she whispers, "I just want you to confirm there's no

funny business. This whole situation has me perplexed."

"Will do." I say to her, reassuringly touching her shoulder. "You guys coming?

I'm gonna call us a cab and let Agent Scully take the car."

"Good, then we can get down to brass tax." Jack agrees.

*************************************************

(still) 4-19-1999 {Ryan}

We've skipped ahead in time ten fucking years. We're officially strangers in a

not-so-strange land.

At first, when Agents Mulder and Scully announced they were FBI, I thought

it was over. I saw the same panic in Jack and Micki's eyes. Then it got weirder...

these agents are with the X-Files, which every sci-geek like me knows that these guys

investigate the cases that no one can explain, like flying saucers and Bigfoot sightings.

Agent Mulder (the tall male agent with brown hair) seems to really know his

stuff, and his partner, Agent Scully (petite female with a red bob) is real no-nonsense.

It was a relief to find that they weren't gunning to take us to jail, and sort of knew where

we were coming from.

Especially since we just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a crime scene

they were investigating.

Agent Scully left in a dark blue, rounder looking car as Agent Mulder pulled out

his strange, small cellular phone and called us a cab. Then he asked Jack to explain who

we were. Jack did and when it was all over with, Micki and I looked at each other with

fear of mental institutions in our eyes. But that didn't happen. Agent Mulder completely

understood us, and is willing to help.

Finally, some luck.

We can't really take the chest back to the vault just yet; we don't really know

if there even is a Curious Goods anymore ten years later. Besides, nobody wants to touch

that thing until we understand what it does. Agent Mulder calls a full HASMAT team to come

down and retrieve the chest, which will be stored in a private evidence locker, safe as any

vault. This is a man with good ideas.

Currently, the four of us are crammed in the back of a taxi, and Micki's balancing

on my knee precariously between myself and Agent Mulder.

"What luck, the only girl in a backseat of handsome men." Micki jokes, trying to

break the ice a little.

I'm just trying to keep my legs crossed enough so she doesn't run into anything

she's not supposed to. I notice Agent Mulder giving her the eye.

"Can I call you Micki?" Mulder cracks a smile at her.

"Of course; what shall I call you?" Now she is openly flirting with him, on *my*

lap. Life isn't fair.

"Mulder is fine."

"Agent Mulder," Jack begins, "I'd like to know the name of that book that you

mentioned earlier. The more that we understand what this chest can do, maybe we can

overcome the curse's effects and find a way to get back to 1989."

"Sure. It's title is The Dark Tesseract, written by someone named L. Vendredi,

and published in 1992. The basic theme is human sacrifice as a way of escaping the

current time you were in for another through a manipulated tesseract."

"Uncle Lewis!" Micki gasps, "How did he publish a book years after his death?"

"After the Devil dragged him down to Hell?" Mulder adds.

I notice th cab driver glancing at us warily from the rearview. Luckily, we've

pulled into a hotel and it's time to exit.

"Unless Lewis hid the manuscript and someone found it." I offer. Hey, I hold

my own here.

"You may be onto something, Ryan." Mulder tells me, "I need to make a quick

phone call to Scully and I'll get us some rooms while I'm at it, excuse me." he says,

making his way to the office to check in.

Micki, Jack, and I hang back in the parking lot, and Micki clings a little closer

to me as we take in our surroundings.

"Everything's the same, but different." Micki says, "It's got to be at least ten

degrees colder than it was today in 1989." she rubs her shoulders and I instinctively put

my arms around them to warm them up.

"It wouldn't be the first time we've time travelled." I offer, trying to make her feel

better.

"Yes, but for some reason, it's different because it's a less drastic change.

London circa Bram Stoker was far different from our time; this just seems surreal."

Micki sighs, and presses her back into my chest. I feel one of my arms graze a breast;

I can't let her get too close. She's in danger of getting stabbed.

"We also need to be aware of where *we* are now." Jack starts, "Only ten years

into the future, we're most likely still alive and it would be quite dangerous if we ran into

our future selves. It might permanently disrupt the space-time continuum."

Agent Mulder approaches us from the office with three room keys, "Well,

the accomodations weren't so great, but I got us the last three rooms compliments of

the FBI. I figure we can give an old man his privacy," he winks at Jack, who chuckles,

"and we'll bunk guys and girls together. Oh, and Ryan,"

"Yes?"

"I snore." he kids as he tosses me our room key.

"So does he." Micki says as he hands her the key to the room she will share

with Agent Scully, "I should know, his room is right outside mine."

Mulder tosses me a 'lucky guy' look that Micki catches, which causes her to

look down and blush adorably. I feel sick. What's worse is I like the guy. I feel a strange

sympatico with Agent Mulder. It doesn't mean that seeing them flirt casually doesn't hurt,

though.

**************************************************

(still) 4-19-99 {Mulder}

"I'm supposed to believe that these people go around procuring cursed artifacts

after their Uncle broke his deal with Lucifer and was dragged down to Hell?" Scully,

ever the skeptic, lights into me.

We've met back up to interview the eyewitnesses and are driving the rental car

towards the first residence.

"Hey, I thought you'd be more open to this, Miss Catholic." I tease her, reaching

to her cross around her neck to finger it slightly. She pushes my hand away, amused. "I

mean, considering they just showed up out of thin air and it was obviously connected with

that chest, is it really so hard to believe? After all that we have personally seen and know,

is this really *that* strange?"

Scully gives me the eyebrow, "Yes. Yes it is." she answers, deadpan.

Well, when she's right, she's right. Scully knows what she saw happen right

before her eyes, though, and I see it making her ambivalent. She just doesn't really know

what to think.

Scully and I reach the locations of the various eyewitnesses, and they all report

hearing screams and seeing a bright, blinding light coming from the Duquet barn the night

of the murder. The Sheriff gave Scully the official police report to look over, and she had

dropped the forensic evidence she had gathered at the crime scene off at the state FBI office

in Portland while I was getting our guests settled in at the hotel.

All in all, I'd say it was a productive first day of this case.

We're on our way back to the hotel now, "I hope you don't mind sharing your room."

I say to her as we pull into the parking lot.

"With you?" she says, suspicious.

Wow. My dick just got hard. It was that easy. "No, with Micki Foster."

"Mulder, you didn't..." Scully starts.

"I believe they can help us. They do what we do except they don't have the law

on their side." I tell her.

"The lawlessness is what I'm worried about." she quips as we make our way out

of the car.

"Scully, trust my instincts. They're harmless, and could actually be very helpful."

I stop walking and take her by the shoulders, massaging them lightly, "Trust me."

Scully sighs, "I have to admit that they seem like nice people." she gives in, "And

I also have to admit that after all that I have seen and know that I can't shut out the possibility

that this is real."

"Good girl." I say as she lightly slaps a hand on my shoulder in mock-offense. "Imagine

how *they* feel. They just skipped ahead in time ten years. Talk about your strange days. I

showed the old man, Jack, my laptop and gave him a rundown on the worldwideweb before I

left. You should've seen him, Scully. He had no idea; he was like a kid in a candystore."  
It actually was pretty amusing how excited the old goat was about computer

technology's advances in the past ten years. I forget that not long ago, I too was doing

research off books and microfiche.

When I left them, they were in Jack's room, huddled around my laptop, typing

keywords into the search engine.

That's pretty much how we find them we we get back, with the exception of Ryan,

who is watching re-runs of **Beavis and Butthead** and chuckling.

"Agents Mulder and Scully!" Jack exclaims, "Perfect timing, we believe we are onto

something, here."

"We think it may have been Elaine Duquet who committed the murder." Micki says,

crossing to us from her chair, "Computers are cool, but my eyes are *swimming* right now!"

she exclaims as an afterthought.

"Funny, wasn't that my very first theory?" Scully smirks, slightly nudging my side,

"What makes you think so, Miss Foster?"

"We looked up the property records, and found out that Ms. Duquet didn't gain

ownership of the farm until 1992, but she was the one who contacted *us* in 1989 to pick

up the chest." Micki answers, "And it's Micki, please."

"She was *really* willing to hand it over," Ryan adds, "So we figure that she killed

your victim here and used the chest to jump back to our time. Nobody finds her."

"Another tidbit that I found is that she needs to find someone to take *her* place

in time." Jack finishes, "She must have found our mailer when she arrived in '89. I checked

our Manifest; the chest has been on the farm all along, and the previous owner disappeared

suddenly in 1988. The property was listed as vacant until Ms. Duquet bought it in 1992."

Scully and I look at each other, impressed. These guys know how to research.

"We still need to figure out how we're going to get back." Ryan states.

"Well, your findings make sense," I say, "I think we need to look deeper into the

time frame. From what I know about this, you might only have a limited time before the

switch becomes permanent."

"We've also got to take in account *how* the victim was murdered. The autopsy

report suggests a wild animal attack." Scully adds, "However, they haven't been able to

identify the animal."

"So what would the catalyst be in order to reverse this?" Micki wonders aloud,

"We have all these facts, is it an animal in cahoots with Elaine, is it a demon that did

the murder..."

"Demon, of course!" Jack exclaims, scrolling down the page of the occult

website he was exploring, "She summoned a demon to do the sacrifice!"

I look at Scully, who is desperately trying to suspend her disbelief, "Well,

it would explain the unidentified animal."

************************************************

4-19-1999 {Ryan}

It blows my mind how much can happen in ten years, especially when you

don't have a firsthand perspective.

The computer technology is way more advanced and accessable in '99, as

are cellular phones, which is helpful since we can't access our storefront and our massive

volume of books and newspapers. I've also noticed that compact discs have replaced

cassettes, television has gotten a little more risque`, which I like, that waistlines on

women's pants have gotten lower and midriffs and tube tops seem to be popular

fashions at the moment.

Thank you, hotel cable, you are a wealth of information.

It also amazes me how similarly parallel to Agents Mulder and Scully we are.

Physically similar, but opposite. Agent Mulder is a little more suave than I am, and Scully

is a bit more serious than Micki, but it's getting a bit eerie.

I think Mulder and Scully have something going on. At the very *least* it's

unrequited, like my feelings of lust and perversion over Micki. When Scully's in the room,

Mulder doesn't even look at my redhead.

Which is hard to do; Micki's braless and wearing white. *I* can't stop staring. I

even catch Jack stealing a few glances every now and then. I guess. He's old, not dead.

Not to say that Agent Scully doesn't have something about her, as well. The

first time I heard her talk, I got it. She has a very sexy voice, not to mention a tight little

body and a beautiful face.

I get this Mulder guy.

We ordered food in that night, eating in Jack's room together and talking about

our situation. We're pretty sure that Elaine Duquet summoned a demon in this time to

kill this Dupree guy and had one week to find patsys to take her place. Enter our mailer,

and us along in the process. It was almost too easy for her.

Right now we're assuming that we have about a week before this switch becomes

permanent.

Eventually, Mulder takes the laptop away from Jack and we all retire to our

seperate rooms. Mulder and I are barely watching this movie called **True Romance** on

Showtime, staring at the ceiling on our respective beds and swapping stories. His sister

was abducted by aliens, our Uncle was dragged to Hell. He and Scully have saved each

other's lives countless times from things unexplained. Ditto.

"So Ryan, you and Micki aren't blood-related, then?" Mulder asks.

"Not a drop, no." I answer, "Our relation is by marriage only. Can't you tell?"

I joke.

"Have you two ever..." Mulder begins, making a punch-it-in fist motion and

whistling.

"No! No....uh, no." I say a little too hastily.

"Must be rough." he sighs, "Does she always go without a bra?"

"Constantly." I answer automatically. It was a knee-jerk reaction.

"Got ya." Mulder chuckles.

"What about you and Agent Scully? You can't go five minutes without

laying a finger on her when you're in the same room together. Are *you*..." I make

the same fist motion whistle combination.

"Nope." He's Mr. Calm and Casual, "Not once in the six years we've known

each other."

My jaw drops, "Six years? Nobody else?"

"In my line of work, it's impossible." Mulder tells me, and I nod in understanding,

"Just wait a few more years, you'll feel my pain. At least Scully doesn't parade around

me braless."

"No, she just talks to you in that phone sex voice of hers." I crack.

"You noticed that too, huh?"

"Oh yeah," I say, "How can you not? So six years, and you never took a shot?

But you're in love with her."

"Yup. And you're in love with Micki."

"Yup. And there's nothing we can do about it, because if we come clean, we

could lose them."

"Yup."

********************************************************************

_And Now: A Micki/Scully interlude _(We'll start with Micki)

4-20-1999 {Micki}

This is just great. I mean, really. Sometimes it never ceases to amaze me

the shenanigans we get into.

This time, Ryan, Jack, and I have leapt forward ten years in time as the result

of a cursed chest, and I feel like I've walked into a surrealist painting. Everything's

different but similar, although it's easier in this time to obtain vital information to help

us right the wrongs and get out of here and back to our own time.

We also met two agents from the X-Files division of the FBI who have been

extremely helpful. With their aide, we've already uncovered a good amount of information

that normally would have taken days before, and have put us up in a hotel free of

charge.

Which is good, because I'm sure that with inflation, the cash that I brought

with me to buy the chest wouldn't have lasted very long.

As it is, I'm going to buy us some clothes today. We've only got the clothes

on our backs. I'm stuck in 1999 with nothing to wear.

Luckily, Dana Scully, the female agent, is actually *really* nice. We had to

share a room last night and stayed up late watching a brand new show on HBO called

**Sex and the City**. Pretty scandalous stuff. We gorged on junk food and laughed at

the television for a while. Eventually, we started talking about shared experiences.

I'm not the only girl who has come in contact with an evil doll. The thought

of that is comforting to me, althought I'm not sure why.

Dana is also involved with a man she's not really *involved* with, in an intense

relationship that stems from their quest in solving things that no one can explain or

understand.

Just like me and Ryan.

It's spooky, almost. I can tell that Dana is in love with her partner. I don't know

exactly what it is that made me decide this; if it's the way they look at each other like

no one else exists, the consistent amount of casual touching, or just the way her eyes

light up when he walks in a room. All of the above seems fair.

*I* wouldn't throw Agent Mulder out of bed for eating crackers, that's for sure.

He's very handsome and extremely charming. I love Ryan for being artistically quirky

and slightly awkward in that boyish kind of way, but there is something to be said for an

amazingly intelligent Man's man like Agent Mulder.

If Dana and Mulder *are* doing anything, she's a very lucky girl.

Yes, you read me right. I said I was in love with Ryan. Truthfully, he's all I ever

think about anymore, and I have decided that I don't even want to try getting involved

with someone else at this point. They've all ended up dead or crazy.

Well, except for Lloyd. He's just what Ryan calls a "yuppie douchebag". Good

riddance.

Since I decided that I should keep my tainted existance away from other men,

I started noticing *him* more and more, and I'm struck by in the face of everything how

adorably *pure* he is.

I also used to think he was interested in me, but now I'm not so sure. Ryan has

been running hot and cold with me lately. He also hits on any attractive female in a ten

mile radius, usually with me at his side. It's horribly infuriating.

I've also been holding back something from him, as I was just recently hit with

the news of my parent's divorce. I was pretty depressed about it and didn't want to tell

anyone. I just wanted to lose myself in our work and forget about it.

This also means that Ryan and I are no longer really connected by marriage,

although I don't really see what difference it makes. I'm so close to him, yet he's so

hard to read, and the thought of getting my heart broken by *him*, after my parents

and the Lloyd situation, I honestly don't think I could take it.

***************************************************

4-20-1999 {Scully}

I'll admit. I was skeptical about our new guests and their motives.

Seriously, they just *appeared* right before my eyes. For a second, I thought

Mulder had slipped some acid into my coffee.

The more that we spend time with them, the more that I can't refute that what

is happening is real, however. I spent a great deal of time talking with Micki last night,

who is a genuine product of the '80's. Her favorite movie is **Dangerous Liasons** and

she loves Howard Jones. She also has no idea what grunge is, or what Raves are, nor

has she ever watched an episode of "Friends".

Normal things that a girl in her twenties living in the 1990's would know about,

she has no idea.

So I am apt to believe their story. Until proven otherwise, my scientific mind

has no choice.

Today, we're dropping Mulder, Ryan, and Jack off at the Portland Library while

Micki and I go to a nearby mall to buy them some fresh clothing. The men are trying

to locate the specific book that Mulder had mentioned, which had apparently been

written by their uncle who was banished to Hell.

I have suspended my disbelief.

Anyway, we have some time to kill before the forensics come back from

Washington, and we've got a great headstart already, so why not use a little time to

do some shopping?

Honestly, I would have just borrowed Micki something of mine, but we aren't

exactly the same size. She's at least a few inches taller than I am. For a minute there,

I was a little jealous of her. She's quite beautiful, and I noticed Mulder catching looks at

her every now and then, but it seems to be pretty moot.

It looks like Micki only has eyes for Ryan, and vice-versa.

She and I have a lot in common, this one.

I'm sure you realize by now that I'm in love with Mulder. The attraction has

been bubbling since the beginning; I didn't understand until a few years ago that I was

*in love* with him, and by then it was too late.

Mulder and I have seemingly missed our window. It's quite sad really, knowing

that the one person that you get up for in the morning will never *really* complete you.

I could definitely use some completion. It's been six years since I've had human

sexual contact, and I feel like climbing up the fucking walls. Yet, Mulder is the *only* man

I crave. When he touches me anywhere now I just want to buckle.

No one else will do.

************************************************************

4-20-1999 {Mulder}

Another day, and another interesting breakthrough in our case.

We found The Dark Tesseract at the library, and discovered something almost

immediately. The book was dedicated to Elaine Duquet. Either she had been working

with their Uncle Lewis or she had been the one to discover his manuscript and publish

it. At any rate, it's another link in the chain.

Micki and Scully went clothes shopping earlier, and have just returned in the rental

car as we wait on the library steps. They park and exit the car...

Holy, holy, holy.

Micki must have convinced Scully to go whole hog with her on the girl time. They

both look amazing, like they spent some time at the makeup counter and had the salesgirls

give them free makeovers.

And what they're wearing...

Scully has on this form fitting, knee length wrap sundress in lavender that looks

like soft brushed cotton and hugs everything, and Micki apparently decided on the new

lower waistline stretch jeans, a royal blue tube top that bares a swatch of midriff, and a long

sleeved white shrug which is very trendy right now. All the starlets are wearing them.

Jack stands between Ryan and I, and extends a hand to each of our slack jaws

to close our mouths, "Ladies, you look stunning." he greets them jovially.

"Really?" Micki says, self-conciously covering her midriff, "It's going to take a while

to get used to this kind of tummy exposure, but this is what the salesgirl said was the

hottest trend right now. Doesn't Dana look great? I love that color on you." she says to

Scully, who appears adorably self-concious herself.

"Thank you." Scully says, "Don't think we forgot about you two," she directs at

Jack and Ryan, "We have the bags in the trunk."

"I hope we got the right sizes." Micki says, stepping in front of Ryan, who appears

to be still in shock, and waving a hand in front of his face.

"Earth to Ryan." I say to him as he shakes himself out of his trance.

"I'm sure you two did fine." he manages out.

"Did you guys find anything?" Scully asks me, getting close enough for me to

feel the material on the sleeve of her dress.

"Nice dress, Scully." I tease her, "Yeah, we found out a little."

"Guess who's closer to Uncle Lewis than we thought?" Ryan baits.

"Elaine Duquet?" Micki guesses.

"Bingo." I interject.

"It seems that The Dark Tesseract has been dedicated to her. We think she

either knew Lewis personally or at least knew of him well enough to obtain the manuscript

to publish it." Jack explains, "There has to be a reversal of this somehow that we keep

overlooking. When we get back to the hotel I'm going to try to look up Rashid and combine

our efforts. He's the one person I know that wouldn't bat an eyelash at our current situation.

He can also give me hints on where we shouldn't go to run into our future selves."

"What about us?" Ryan asks.

"For now, I say just keep a low profile." Jack answers.

"Jack's right." I cut in, "We're still waiting on the forensics report, which might not

show up until tomorrow morning."

"Nothing to do now but wait." Scully says, "Let's get back, shall we? We can at

least look over the case files at the hotel, and you two can get changed."

"Great idea." Ryan agrees, "I'm feeling pretty gamey."

******************************************************

4-20-1999 {Ryan}

Skipping through time is some tiring stuff. Thank goodness Mulder and Scully

have been a big help; we actually have a small amount of time to kill. I just spent about

an hour in the shower, which was good, because I had to tame the dragon in my pants.

Micki's midriff keeps flitting through my mind. I have to say that 1999 looks good on her,

but really, she looks great in any decade.

I wrap a towel around my naked waist and step out of the steamy bathroom a

minute or so after I hear our room door open and shut. Must be Mulder.

"Hey buddy..." I start, walking into the room and finding Micki lounging on her

back on Mulder's bed.

She props herself up on her forearms, eyes widening slightly, "Hey pal." she

cracks back, smirking a little.

"Micki, I thought you were Agent Mulder." I say, trying to maintain a cool composure

so the dragon doesn't make a reappearance.

"He's in our room looking over case files with Dana." she says, "I brought you clothes."

she smiles, holding up a shopping bag and pulling out fresh socks and boxers, a pair of jeans

that are on the baggy side and a hawaiian shirt, "All the guys are wearing these right now, and

apparently, no one tucks in anymore."

"You learned a lot today out and about, didn't you?" I ask, sitting next to her in the

towel and strategically placing the clothes on my lap.

"Mmmhmm." she murmurs, "Dana and the salesgirls were helpful in keeping me

up to date, at least with the fashion, though I still feel horribly out of place here."

"Well," I sigh, putting an arm around her shoulder, "At least now we'll *look* like

we fit in, right?"

Micki leans her head on my naked shoulder, "Right." she pauses and inhales a

little, "Mmm, you smell nice." she adds.

I feel a stirring in my lap. "I should put these on." I say, abruptly getting up,

"Maybe we can catch a flick and relax for a while, whaddaya say?"

"Sounds good." she says, beginning to pull her curly red hair into a ponytail as I

make my way back to the bathroom.

*************************************************************

4-20-1999 {Mulder}

Scully and I found a few more clues to our mystery. Apparently, Ms. Duquet

has a small criminal record involving petty theft and cocaine possession from the

1970's. There's also a report that explains the manuscript theft from 1991; a woman

matching her description was viewed by several eyewitnesses leaving the Curious

Goods storefront after a subsequent break-in. More interesting than that is the fact

it was reported by a Michelle Foster. We also looked into Curious Goods; apparently,

it still exists and the rights to the property were written over to Jack in 1994, which

doesn't expain where Micki and Ryan are now, but at least we know to keep Jack

away from the storefront, at any rate.

Scully and I said goodbye to Jack about an hour ago. He was picked up by a

graying man wearing a fez who he introduced to us as his friend, Rashid, a fellow

occultist who Jack told us will help him provide further insight into the symbol and

how to combat the incantation.

Now we're getting hungry and head back to my room to see if Micki and Ryan

want to grab some chow at the diner around the corner.

Upon entering the room, we find them sleeping on Ryan's bed on top

of the comforter, curled up together like spoons in a drawer with the movie **Half-Baked**

blaring on the television.

"Aww, they're snuggling." I crack to Scully in a hushed whisper, "Like baby cats."

"Maybe we shouldn't disturb them." she whispers back, "We stayed up pretty

late last night; they could probably use the nap."

She reaches over to the television set and snaps it off, which prompts them

to stir a little.

"Wha..." Ryan murmurs, slowly opening his eyes.

He and Micki sit up abruptly, like they were caught doing something they

weren't supposed to.

"Hey guys." Ryan greets us, stretching, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, you tell us." I tease them as Scully nudges my side.

Micki yawns, "One minute we're watching a movie, and I guess we just

passed out."

"Are you two hungry?" Scully asks, "We were taking a break and were wondering

if you wanted to go to the diner with us."

"I'm starving; what about you, Ryan?"

"I could definitely eat."

*********************************************************

_Jack and Rashid's Time! Recognize! _

4-20-1999 {Jack}

Pardon the expression, but this is probably one of the most curious undertakings

that we've run into. We were tricked into tesseracting ten years ahead in time and with

the help of two FBI agents from the X-Files have figured out that we need to find a way

to reverse the effects of this demonic (quite literally, by the way) curse and return to our

own time.

We've been in 1999 for about 24 hours now, and have been exposed to the vast

technological advances and culture changes of the past ten years via a wonderful thing

called the worldwideweb and progressed Cable television. I find myself worried about this

knowledge of that -will be- when we do return to our own time, or if there will be a way

of forgetting everything that we've seen right now.

I hope it doesn't taint us in some way. I can't shake the feeling that Lewis is

directly behind this scenario we have been mislead into.

When I phoned Rashid this afternoon after we returned from Portland, he was

initially surprised to hear what I had to say, mainly because he claimed he had just got

off the phone with me five minutes prior.

Rashid has an incredibly open mind, however. He understands that what

we're dealing with is beyond the spectrum of natural reasoning and has agreed to help.

He picked me up shortly after I called him; I looked in on Micki and Ryan to see if they

wanted to tag along, but they were snoozing peacefully and I decided to let them get

their rest. Those two aren't fooling anyone except themselves. I've seen firsthand the way

they act around each other; they're clearly in love. I wonder if Micki told Ryan about her

parents yet. She hasn't said anything openly, but I overheard her talking to her sister

about it on the phone about a month ago. I understand her reasoning; our quest is too

great, and sacrificing a comfortable, easy relationship for a deeper one is always

a risky option.

I see the same characteristics in Agents Mulder and Scully. I'm a true believer

in Karma, and I think these two were brought to us by some sort of divine intervention,

and could be linked to our situation.

We arrive at Rashid's apartment, which is still very much *him* after all these

years, littered with mid-eastern tapestries, crystal balls of various shapes, and curios

taking up every inch of space on plentiful shelving. His now 19 year old niece, Sabina

is sitting on the couch in the living room watching a movie.

"Hi Uncle, hi Jack...Jack, have you been doing something to yourself? You

look younger, somehow." Sabina asks, crunching popcorn.

I wave hello and Rashid goes to give her a kiss on her forehead, then notices the

television, "Sabina, what are you watching?" he asks sternly.

"**Natural Born Killers**, Uncle Rashid. It's Oliver Stone, I'm watching it for film

class."

Rashid shakes his head and clucks his tongue, "College today, bah! Jack and I

will be in my den, it seems we have some work to do. Could you see that we are

completely undisturbed?"

Sabina chuckles a little at this, "Sure, Uncle Rashid."

"Nice to see you again, Sabina." I say, trying to play along, though the last time

I saw Sabina she was nine years old, about two months ago.

"Nice to see you too. Good Luck." she says and focuses back on eating popcorn

and watching her movie.

Rashid and I enter his den and I pull The Dark Tesseract out of my trenchcoat's

large inside pocket. "This is the book that Lewis wrote. It was published five years after

his death by a woman named Elaine Duquet. She brought us to this time after escaping

into ours by summoning a demon through the chest to kill a victim, thereby inducing

the tesseract."

"You've said a mouthful, my friend." Rashid chuckles, shuffling Tarot cards,

"Now, to figure out how to reverse this..."

"We need access to the purest magic." I tell him.

"We will combine our efforts." Rashid says, "You go through the book for

clues and I'll see what the spirits have to say."

**********************************************************

4-20-1999 {Micki}

Wow. I am *full*. We're all sitting in a booth at the diner that's near the hotel,

and I think I just killed myself with a giant California burger. I clutch my exposed stomach

and sip coffee with the other hand. Maybe the coffee will settle it down a little.

"Ohh, I ate so much." I groan.

Ryan laughs, "Yeah, you did. I've never seen a woman take a burger like that."

he jokes, "Sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"I'll second that; even Scully here has never eaten so fast, and I've seen her wolf

down some snacks in the past six years." Mulder chuckles.

Dana whaps Mulder in the side and simultaneously nudges Ryan with her heel

under the table, "The woman is a toothpick and was hungry as hell. How about giving her

a little peace, will ya, guys?"

"Jeez, is she always like this?" Ryan responds from her attack, and Mulder nods.

"Thanks for coming to my defense, Dana." I smile at her, pinching Ryan's arm.

"No problem."

"I wonder what's going to happen if we don't get back in time." Ryan wonders as

he rubs his arm.

"I've been wondering that myself." Mulder intercepts, "Seeing as that you're already

alive in this time and there can't be two sets of you in the same space-time continuum, I

could see there being potential problems with the outcome of your existance, as in you could

get wiped out altogether."

"So if we don't find out how to reverse this we might not exist at all?" I set down my

coffee cup with a loud clatter. This is too much.

Dana nods slowly, "Unfortunately, there is some logic to what Mulder is saying."

she seems to agree, grudgingly.

Ryan puts an arm around my shoulders, "We can only hope that Jack and Rashid

find it out in time. You know they can do it, Micki. They haven't failed us before."

I shake my head, "I really can't think about this right now. After everything that has

already happened to us, the thought of not existing terrifies the shit out of me. I just want

to scream, or get really drunk." I hiss at them. I'm freaking out; if we don't get this fixed,

we potentially won't exist at *all*. No Michelle Foster. No Ryan Dallion. No Jack Marshak.

Finished. Game over.

I start hyperventilating, and Ryan rubs my arms, trying to calm me down, "Why

not?"

I slow my breathing down a bit, "Why not what?"

"Why don't we go out and have a few drinks, you guys?" Ryan asks all of us,

"At least we won't have wasted away *worrying* about it if we are wiped out."

Mulder and Scully look at each other and shrug, "I suppose we could take you

to a club in Portland." Mulder offers, "I figure we have nothing but thumbs-up-our-asses

time for the rest of the night, anyway."

Dana smiles at me reassuringly, "I know if I was in your position, I would want

to take advantage of life's joys. I agree, we should go."

Mulder summons the waitress for the check and Ryan gives me an affectionate

squeeze. "It'll be alright, Micki." he says lowly into my ear, "We'll get through this."

**************************************************

4-20-1999 {Scully}

I feel a little strange right now. I'm in a cotton lavender dress in a nightclub

called Blitz with Mulder, Ryan, and Micki. I feel as if I'm on an inadvertant double date,

which makes me a bit nervous. Especially since Mulder's wearing his standard issue

black t-shirt/blue jean combo that always visually entices me.

Pardon me, but I'm a little buzzed right now. Micki begged me to do tequila

shots with her as soon as we entered this establishment.

Considering her situation, I couldn't deny her. I'd be scared shitless too if I

knew that everything that I was and had worked for could be wiped out in less than

a week.

Blitz is pretty interesting; it's a crush of young adults dressed in bright colors

and shiny fabrics dancing along to a live band of two young Japanese girls called

Cibo Matto. They're currently performing a song they called "Spoon", and the crowd

has gotten pretty lively. We're situated in a small circle around two barstools at the end

of the bar, and Micki and Ryan are proceeding to consume an excess in alcohol; Micki

has already downed four tequila shots and a Tom Collins with extra cherries, and Ryan's

had at least five Heinekens so far. Meanwhile, Mulder's still nursing his first Red Stripe,

and I'm slowly sipping my own Tom Collins after the tequila shots, of which I've had two.

At least the music is good. I never fail to feel out of place in nightclubs, but I

feel like I'm here for a good cause.

Micki starts moving her hips along with the music as she downs her next drink,

this time a Stoli-Pineapple juice. She empties the glass and wipes her mouth with the

back of her hand, "Dana, C'mon!" she slurs at me.

I can't help but laugh, "Okay." I say reluctantly.

We slip into the mass of bodies on the dance floor and start moving along to

the beat together. She grabs my arm and gives me a twirl, and we crack up laughing.

Maybe I'm a little more buzzed than I thought.

The song ends and we clap enthusiastically. "This next song is called 'Flowers'."

one of the cute Japanese girls onstage announces, and they immediately launch into a

loungy, infectiously groovy tune.

"This is great!" Micki yells, proceeding to shake her hips and move her feet in

a faux samba. I try to follow along as best as I can with her and notice Mulder and Ryan

still at the bar, just *staring* at us.

I nudge Micki, "Look at those two over there." I giggle, "They look like they're

seeing a two-headed monster in the room. Like we don't know how to have fun." I

slam the rest of my Tom Collins, "Let's get 'em."

Micki laughs, "*Great* idea."

We continue our fake samba back over to Ryan and Mulder and I lean across

Mulder to place my empty drink on the bar. Meanwhile, Micki's practically draped across

Ryan's lap with her arms around his neck and they're both laughing hysterically.

"Fucking dance with us, you guys!" Micki yells between drunken laughter.

"What's a Fucking Dance?" Mulder jokes, placing an arm around my waist.

I try not to buckle while Micki and Ryan howl in hysterics.

"Just c'mon." I slur, grabbing Mulder by the front of his shirt.

************************************************************

4-20-1999 {Ryan}

Woo! I feel awesome! I got a buzz going like there's no tomorrow, because there

might not be one in less than a week, but fuck it...

I'm living in the now, and now is good. The band is playing this song they called

"Sci-Fi Wasabi" and Micki and I are pogoing along with the rest of the crowd, arms around

each others waists because I may be drunk, but Micki is near *wasted* already and we

have to hold each other up for support. Luckily, Mulder and Scully are nearby to help us

out if we fall.

They've gotta be less plastered than us. I hope.

Goddamn, Micki's sexy as hell. My fingers seem to burn against the bare skin

of her hips, but I'm clutching them anyway. She doesn't seem to mind; she's laughing

her ass off, actually.

The band is AWESOME; two cute Japanese girls singing and rapping to swingy

electronic lounge grooves, and I heard someone at the bar saying that one of those guys

up there in the band was Sean Lennon, John and Yoko's son. They shift into a slightly

slower song they call "King of Silence."

"Cool." Micki slurs a bit as she wraps her arms around my neck and presses her

body against mine, "I can bounce no more. My chest was starting to hurt real bad." Her

forehead makes contact with mine and I burst into man-giggles.

"I'll bet." I croak out as I catch my breath, "No support. Not like you need it,

normally."

We pause and keep staring into each other's eyes as we move slowly along to

the beat of the song, then slip back into giggles.

"Ryan, have you been staring at my breasts?" Micki scoffs in mock offense.

"Yes. It's hard not to." I answer truthfully. Shit, what do I have to lose? We're

still laughing, so it seems I did not offend.

Oh shit. I think she just got stabbed with my erection. Her eyes don't show a

bad reaction though. She's still smiling, "Notice anything else while you were on your

staring spree?" she kids me.

Did she just grab my ass? This has got to be the raddest night of my life! I go

for broke, "You have a very spankable ass. And your hair always looks like you've just

been fucked." I offer, rubbing the small of her back in languid circles.

Booze has always been kind of a truth serum for me.

I prepare to be slapped as she pulls her forehead away from mine. Instead, she

throws her head back and lets out a belly laugh.

This is really fun, being shitfaced together.

"Did you want to?" she asks, pressing a little closer to me.

"What?" I'm intoxicated. Damn, she's so sexy, it's hard to concentrate.

Micki takes my face in her hands and presses her mouth gently against mine,

"Ryan, do you want to fuck?" she whispers against my lips.

"Holy shit yes," I say, giving in to kissing her, groping everything possible. It's

hurried, frenetic, and passionate as hell. She wraps a leg around my waist and I grip a

thigh to keep us from falling over. Micki's got one hand twined in my hair and the other

is now gripping my ass. This woman is electric! Kissing her is like kissing a live wire.

She's waking up every sense in my body with every nibble on my lips and grind of her

hips into mine.

"Get a room!" someone yells at us from the crowd.

We burst into laughter, not really stopping making out, but she does put her

leg back down on the ground and we try to calm it down slightly. I can't stop kissing

her though. How quickly I've become addicted. I move my lips down to her neck to

have a taste.

"They're right, you know." she says.

"Mmm?" I murmur, sampling the gorgeous spot around her neck/collarbone

area.

Micki pulls me up face to face with her and we grin loopily at each other for

a second, "We need a room." she says slowly, gripping my upper thigh.

"Hell yeah!" I agree. Best idea all night, and it's been a night of good ideas.

In our haze, we look around the room for Mulder and Scully; we finally spot

them off a ways. They look pretty cozy themselves. They're dancing close, and Scully's

got her head pressed against his chest. This might not be so hard to work out. We

make our way over to them, me following my luscious lady close behind with my arms

around her waist, giggling like drunken idiots.

Micki greets them with aplomb, "Heyyy! There you are! Awww, Ryan, they're

*slowdancing*. That's so *cute*!"

I sputter in laughter, "Hey, you two."

Scully and Mulder look at us and chuckle a little, "So, what's going on here?"

Scully slurs a bit, "What's all this?"

"We need a room! I'm going to fuck Ryan!" Micki yells drunkenly over the

din, hugging my left arm around her waist.

"Woo!" I echo. "Ow!" I raise my free fist in the air. What can I say? I'm stoked!

Mulder barks out a surprised laugh and Scully buries her head into Mulder's

shoulder and shakes with giggles of her own, "You don't think you're taking this a

little too far?" Scully asks us, slurring a little. Mulder nods his head in agreement.

"Nope. We're gonna live it UP while we can. I wanna fuck, and I wanna fuck

Ryan." Micki slurs at her, "Who's gonna help me? Oh, and Jack can't know."

I've been busying myself with the nape of her neck again and I look up from

this, "Yeah guys, could you do us a solid?"

"You want *us* to share a room so you two can..." Mulder starts.

"Fuck, yes." Micki finishes, then bats her eyes, "Pleeease?"

"Wow, you cuss like a sailor when you're wasted." I say, wagging my eyebrows

at her and spinning her around to face me, "Damn, that's fucking sexy."

I can't help it. I have to kiss her again. She's my new drug.

"Alright, alright!" Scully gives in, "We should really get you two out of here

before you get arrested."

"Yeah, you're steps away from indecent exposure." Mulder chuckle, "I'm

driving. I seem to be the only lucid one here."

Micki and I reluctantly break from our kiss, "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

she says with a smile.

"Oww! I'm getting laid!" I yell, pumping a fist in the air as we make our way

to the exit.

"Way to go!" another random person yells from the crowd.

Shit. If we're going out, we're going out with a bang.

******************************************************************

_early morning _4-21-1999 {Mulder}

Scully and I have been thrown in yet another extremely awkward situation

courtesy of our new guests.

I had to open my big mouth and tell them that they might not exist in less

than a week if we don't find some way to combat the effects of this curse.

They didn't take it well. Long story short, we took them to get drinks and

let loose, and they went apeshit.

I guess, you gotta live life while you can.

We're making our way back to Levettston. Scully's slightly drunk and

half dozing in the passenger seat, and Micki and Ryan are practically doing it

in the back. Yikes.

I can't really blame them. I kinda want to pat Ryan on the back and tell

him nice work, my friend.

It was nice, dancing with Scully tonight. She's been downright flirtatious

all evening. We were slowdancing when we noticed that Micki and Ryan were

playing a match of extreme tonsil hockey across the room.

"What the fuck is that?" Scully pointed with a tipsy grin.

"Resolved sexual tension." I told her, locking her in a gaze.

She smiled at me crookedly and said, "I wonder what that's like?"

Then Micki and Ryan exploded onto the scene and begged us for a room

to their impending "Fuckfest", as they so eloquently put it.

Scully jolts in her seat a little, having been jostled by the future beast with

two backs, Micki and Ryan.

"Holy shit, you're like candy." we hear Ryan gasp out as he quite loudly

smacks her ass.

Scully and I exchange awkward glances.

"This was a GREAT idea!" Micki exclaims, "I can't wait to have you inside

me." she whispers seductively and pulls him into another intense kiss.

Jesus H. Christ. The Fuck.

"Hey guys, could you tone it down a little?" I ask, "I mean, I know what's going

on with you two is extreme and everything, but..."

"Blahblahblah!" Micki yells, "You're just jealous!"

Scully chuffs out a laugh, "Jealous?"

"Yeah, why don't you two just nail each other and get it over with, already?" Ryan

chimes in. Then they proceed to make out like crazed teenagers again, and we can't

respond.

I, for one, *am* jealous. I glance at Scully again. She's shaking her head slowly

and chewing on her bottom lip, almost like she's contemplating what Ryan said.

Again, Interesting.

Thankfully, we've reached the hotel, and I park the car, "We're here." Scully

announces loudly.

"Thank fuckin' God." Micki says, detaching her mouth from Ryan's and pulling

him by the collar of his hawaiian shirt out of the backseat.

"You ain't just whistling dixie." Ryan responds upon exiting the car, and picks

Micki up like a sack of potatoes and flings her over his shoulder as she giggles

hysterically.

We had predetermined that they were going to use our room and I would bunk

with Scully, so they make their way to the room door. Ryan kicks at it lamely, "Little

help? I've got my hands full, here."

Micki laughs, "You have *no* idea." she coos, smacking his ass.

I help them open the door with my room key and Scully and I smirk at them,

"Thank you!" Micki says to us as she waves to us from over Ryan's shoulder as

he barrels them inside. The door slams.

Scully and I make our way to their room next door, "You had to open your big

fuckin' mouth, didn't you?" Scully slurs at me as I follow her into the room.

"Sorry." I say as I shrug, plopping on Micki's bed and lacing my fingers behind

my head as I lounge back. Man, I'm tired. It's been a long, weird day.

Scully sways a little as she stumbles her way to her bed and collapses. I

think she's a little more drunk than she's trying to let on, "Whatever, it'll be like a

sleepover." she jokes, then pauses and sucks in a breath, "Those two. Fuckin A."

As if on cue, the adjoining wall starts rattling a little, followed by a loud,

consistent banging.

"Gah, the fucking headboard." I say in annoyance, wiping a hand over my

face. I turn on my side to look at Scully. She's shaking with church giggles, her face

buried in her pillow as she lays on her stomach. Her skirt of her dress has ridden up

to mid-thigh, and her ass seems to be bouncing a little.

Erections seem to always happen at the worst possible moments. Case in

point: Now. Thank God I'm wearing jeans so it's not as obvious.

Now the moaning starts, and it's almost *insanely* loud. It's like they're in the

same room with us. Scully's church giggles give way to full blown cackling and she

pounds her fist against her mattress a few times, shifting her leg a little, and the

dress just goes higher.

I'm being tortured, here. I can see panties, for christ. *And* they're lacy

and match her dress.

"I can't take it anymore!" I exclaim, "I'm turning on the tube to drown out

the noise, okay?"

Scully nods through her cackles and I reach for the remote and hit the

power button.

To my horror, it turns on to a full-blown sex scene in which some brown

haired male is slippin' the bone to a hot redhead. Great, now we have moaning

in stereo. Scully looks up and notices whats on, and just dies laughing.

I change the channel to late night MTV in disgust, shaking my head,

"The world is out for blood." I say, turning up the volume.

Scully attempts to calm her laughter and is somewhat successful, "Do

you think maybe all this is a sign?" she practically croons.

"What are you getting at?"

She rolls over onto her back and I spy a matching lace bra peeking out

from her exposed neckline. Scully arches her back a little, "Maybe we should

take a cue from our new friends, Mulder." she lets out in her incredibly sultry

voice. God, she *is* sex.

I roll off Micki's bed and stand over her, "I don't think you know what you're

saying right now, Scully." I manage out, slowly. I'm already on fire, here, and she's

treading dangerous ground.

She props herself up on her hands and faces me, her legs splayed apart,

panties akimbo, "I know exactly what I'm saying. I feel like I've wanted you forever."

she protests, "What about you?"

I answer her in an attack on her mouth with mine, leaning over and grabbing

the back of her head to take a fistful of silky hair, "I think we've crossed the line." I

groan into her lips.

She captures my top lip with her teeth in response and nibbles it a little,

"Well, if you can't beat 'em..."

***********************************************************

_Early Morning _4-21-99 {Jack}

We've been working for a few hours now, and I feel like I might be on to

something.

There's a line from Sabina's movie that keeps going through my head;

I had gone into the kitchen to get a drink earlier and heard a character mentioned

by the name of Mickey Knox utter a line, "Love, love conquers the Demon." I'm

sure it means something. Why at that exact time did that line choose to find me?

The fates are working hard tonight. Fortunately for us, because Rashid and I stumbled

upon some pretty frightening news already. We did more research, spiritual and through

his computer, and it seems that our Ms. Duquet is a highly powerful witch who has

been skipping time for the past forty plus years or so. Apparently, she and Lewis were

in league with each other after he sold her ancestor the chest and ended up being

killed because of it. We've deduced it's the only way that she's able to still exist past

the week-long window of time elasticity, as it will. In less than a week, she'll kill again

by summoning the demon and the permanence of our space-time continuum will end

up cancelling out the existance of Micki, Ryan, and I. I knew Lewis was behind this.

He'll just wipe us out, and win his favor again with Satan, the bastard.

Love conquers the Demon. There's something *to* this, somehow. Maybe,

if there's no demon, there's no curse.

"Jack, this is interesting." Rashid says, "The cards show twin lovers and two

paths. Does that strike anything in you?"

"As a matter of fact, Rashid, I think it does." I say, scanning a particularly

interesting passage in the book, "It says here that this symbol that marks the chest

is connected with a demon of pure hate. The only way to combat this creature and

send it back to Hell is the resolution of unrequited love two times in tandem."

"This makes no sense, Jack."

"Sure it does. I have the answer! I just hope they aren't too stubborn to

follow through." I murmur to myself.

"Who? Micki and Ryan? You can only requite love once, correct?" Rashid

scratches his goatee in confusion.

"You're forgetting about our Agent friends, Rashid." I say, "I *knew* they were

brought to us for a reason. The forces of good are on our side, my friend."

"This is a great thing; seeing as you are constantly in the line of fire." He quips.

*****************************************************************

4-21-99 {Micki}

Owwwww....

I am pulled into conciousness by the sun shining warmly on my face,

although I can't open my eyes yet. I can already tell that I have a thumper headache,

and my whole body feels *really* sore. What *happened* last night? I realize that

my cheek feels like it's resting against bare flesh, and that I am naked under these

sheets.

Oh. My. God.

Last night's events come barreling in an insane, pornographic montage through

my brain. Wow, I did *that*? And THAT? I'm thinking to myself. My eyes cannot open

just yet. I can't face my shame.

Ryan must think I am such a dirty slut.

Oh, he was willing, and certainly quite able, but I feel as though I've taken

advantage of the situation. My lower half is still throbbing, and I can feel my ass burning

from getting spanked.

Oh yes, there was spanking. I actually couldn't believe that Ryan could be so

forceful. It got me so hot. Needless to say, we pulled out all the stops last night.

I guess I panicked, but can you blame me? Really? I might not exist at all in

a few days, and neither will he. Now, however, the double-edged sword is that the last

few days of our lives will be spent with Ryan thinking that I'm a slut-on-wheels and if

we do get through this and make it out okay we still have to resume our quest as usual,

with Ryan continuing to have this new whorish perspective on who I am.

I go ahead and crack open one eye, and I don't know whether to laugh or

cry. My cheek is resting against his rather red naked ass cheek, as he lays snoozing

on his stomach, smiling as he sleeps. How can he not feel like anything but hell? My

head is pounding terribly. I have to admit that he's pretty gorgeous naked. I raise my

head a little to give his body a sober once over. Bad idea, I just got a sharp pain in my

temple and I allow my cheek to fall back against his cheek, and let out a raspy groan.

"Owwww."

Ryan doesn't even budge in his peaceful slumber. I don't know why this irks

me, but it does. I need ibuprofen, and lots of it. Oh, and a shower. I have to wash the

slut off me.

I manage to crawl off the bed and onto the floor; I don't care if I'm naked or not.

I'm in extreme pain. I make my way to the bathroom on all fours and pray that there's a

bottle of something in the medicine cabinet.

There's a small travel size bottle of Advil, and I am grateful. I wash down four

pills down with a good amount of water and stare in the mirror. My skin has the tell-tell

glow of great sex, but this does nothing to ease my guilt.

Ryan doesn't even know that I'm not legally his cousin anymore. I don't know

how I can face his reaction when he does wake up. I've ruined everything because I

was stupid, selfish, and I panicked in the worst way.

I start running the water in the shower and hop in. Oh, this feels a million times

better already. Is that a bite mark on my shoulder? Wow. It amazes me how crazy we

got. I can't get it out of my head. The images of what transpired last night are fuzzy

because I was quite a few sheets to the wind, but I keep getting flashes of our streamy,

rough-sex filled night as I'm washing my hair.

If only I didn't truly care about what he thinks of me because I love him.

Otherwise, when this hangover goes, this could be a decent morning.

"Micki?"

Oh shit. Ryan must have woken up, "Yeah?" I call from the shower.

"Are you okay?" he calls from the cracked bathroom door.

"Yeah." I say, quelling my apprehension.

I'm not really okay. I'm actually mortified, but I'm not going to tell him that.

Ryan enters the bathroom and goes into the medicine cabinet for the

Advil, "Ow, my fucking head." he groans.

I peek out of the curtain to see that he's still naked and downing a glass

of water in front of the bathroom sink. Oh, did I do that? His poor back is riddled

with long scratches, some of them a bit bloody. Woops.

Well, it gets him back for the bite marks on my shoulders and the purple

love-bites on my neck.

"Hey, I'm gonna go lay back down for a bit." Ryan says cautiously.

"Okay." I answer as cool as I can, "I'll be out in a few more minutes."

I take my time. I feel so nervous, I have no idea what's going to happen after I

leave this bathroom. Finally, I screw up my courage and step out of the shower. I dry

off and wrap myself in a towel, and prepare for what's on the other side of that door.

As I step back in the room, I am simultaneously relieved and embarrassed to

find Agent Mulder standing by the front door and Ryan sitting up in bed, still naked to

the waist, covered in a sheet.

"Hey Hellcat." Agent Mulder teases me in greeting.

"Hi." I manage out, searching around the room for my clothing.

"Jack just gave me a call from his friend Rashid's." Mulder tells us as I

manage to gather most of my clothing, "He wants us to meet them at the FBI State

Office in an hour and a half, something about having the key to getting you back to your

own time, and needing to be near the chest. I told him we'd be there."

"Great." I say lamely, finally tracking down my panties on the wall

light-fixture, "I'm going to get back to my room and change, you guys."

Ryan and I lock embarrassed gazes, "Sure. See ya." he says quietly.

************************************************************

4-21-99 {Scully}

I wake to the heavy smell of sex still lingering in the the sheets and sunlight

pouring through the window. Mulder's side of the bed is empty, and I am flooded

with all sorts of feelings of regret. I can't help thinking that I made the biggest mistake

of my life last night.

Not that the sex wasn't great, because it was. Mulder is everything I always

thought he would be, and much more. We had languid but intense, passionate sex

three times that I remember, though I was a little more drunk than I felt at the time,

and it's coming back to me a little on the hazy side.

I can't believe I just threw myself at him like that. Drunk or no, I was out of

control. My head is throbbing a little at the temples, and I lean over to my purse on

the nightstand and retrieve an Aleve from my emergency stash.

I probably wouldn't have felt as bad if he was still here when I woke up. As

it is, his absense only means one thing: He has regrets about last night, and I have

destroyed everything. Our whole professional and personal relationship has permanently

been altered. I feel like such a fool.

The door cracks open and I cover myself with a sheet as I sit up. I'm half-expecting

it to be Mulder, but instead it's a towel clad Micki, carrying her clothing in front of her in

a ball while trying to keep the rather small hotel towel around her body. As soon as she

sees me, her face crumples up, "Oh, Dana..."

Oh, shit. Why do I have so much in common with this woman? I give her a look

of pure understanding and answer her shakily, "I know." I say, motioning for her to

come give me a hug.

I need one right now, and so does she. It doesn't seem like it worked out that

well this morning for her, either. She rushes over to me and we embrace each other

one-armed.

"I'm so scared." Micki sobs. I feel hot tears on my shoulder, and I awkwardly

pat her back.

"Well, you've got a lot going on." I respond, "I would be, too. I mean, right

now, I'm pretty terrified..."

Micki looks up and wipes her face, pulling away from me, "You and Mulder..."

she pauses, noticing my state of undress.

"Ah-huh." I nod, looking around in embarrassment, "I know you and Ryan did;

we could hear you through the walls." I mention.

Micki's jaw drops and her face flushes red, "Great, now you all are going to

think I'm a slut!" she starts sobbing again, wiping her face with her balled-up tube top.

"Calm down, we don't think you're a slut. Obviously, you're just a woman in love

with a man and under the circumstances, it looked like you both took advantage of the

situation. As did I." I add, sucking in a breath.

"You don't understand, Dana. I did things with him last night that I was saving

for marriage." Micki sniffles, looking up at the ceiling, "What he must think of me!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think we're in the same boat. I

instigated it *all* last night, and he was obviously regretting it enough to not be here

when I woke up." I offer, "I'm feeling pretty dumb right now. I may have just ruined the

most important relationship in my life."

Micki breathes out shakily, "Me too. Oh, I'm so sorry, Dana. I did see Mulder

this morning; he came to the room as I got out of the shower and told us that Jack

had called him."

I perk a little, "What did he say?"

"He said Jack wants to meet us in an hour or so at the FBI state office evidence

locker where they're keeping the chest. He and Rashid may have found the key to

getting back." Micki tells me, standing up from where she was perched on the edge of

my bed.

"Well, that's good news." I say, wrapping the sheet completely around my body.

"I think I should take a shower; we should start getting ready to leave soon. Are you

going to be okay?" I ask her.

Micki looks at me with her eyes wide with fright, "I don't know if I can face him

again."

"Well, that makes two of us. Let's just focus on the bigger task at hand right

now, Micki. It should keep us sane, and our minds tuned on something else. What

happens after that, happens."

Micki nods and smiles wanly, "You're right. You're so wise, Dana."

I get up and make my way towards the bathroom, "No, I'm a jackass,

otherwise I wouldn't be in this current predicament. I just know how to deal with it.

I've been in love with the same man for years and suffered with it silently. I think

I can deal with this, too." I pause by the bathroom door, "So can you."

********************************************************

4-21-99 {Ryan}

I wince as Mulder applies antiseptic to the scratches on my back.

"Jesus, she got you pretty good there, buddy." Mulder comments as

he finishes up.

"Thanks." I tell him, sitting up and putting on my old Depeche Mode T-shirt.

"That scene between you two looked pretty strained this morning, d'ya want

to talk about it?" Mulder pushes.

"Not really." I say. I can't help it, I'm at a loss for words. I just fucked the shit

out of my cousin, and she fucked the shit out of me. I feel like King Shit Pervert right

now. The look in her eyes when she walked out of the bathroom said it all, and pierced

me right where it hurt.

God help me, but I love her. I can't stand the thought of living life without her, and

I may have just crushed that by giving in to my clawing desire for her and doing what we

did last night.

I can't even stand the thought of her hating me for the last few days, if we don't

make it through this. Man, it was the sweetest sin, though. My Micki is a tigress in the

bedroom, and I was fueled by my want of her to do things I've never done with any other

girl in my life. We did it rough and dirty, numerous times on numerous surfaces until

close to dawn when we finally passed out from sheer exhaustion.

It was wonderful, but awful, all at the same time.

I hope to God she doesn't hate me now.

I notice a small love-bite on Mulder's neck, "Hey, do you want to talk about

that?" That sly dog, "You made it with Agent Scully, didn't you?"

Mulder tries to surpress a grin, "No, I don't want to talk about it." he answers me

in his deadpan, "Not like I *need* to ask you what happened. I think the whole Travelodge

heard you and Micki last night."

I rub a hand on the back of my neck, and try not to look too sheepish, "You heard

that, huh?"

"Ohhhh, yeah." Mulder nods, "So, who wants to call dibs on the bathroom shower

first?" he asks, effectively changing the subject.

"You go first; I want to take a look at these clothes in this bag." I say, motioning

to the shopping bag by my bed that Micki brought in yesterday.

"Sounds good to me."

The both of us take our showers and get dressed, Mulder in a black suit and myself

in a pair of khaki cargo pants and a short-sleeved, black and grey plaid button down shirt. I

man up as much as I can and follow Mulder next door to the girl's room to see if they're ready

to go yet.

Mulder gives a knock, and Micki answers the door, looking achingly gorgeous in a

grey sheath top and jeans, her hair pulled on each side of her head in thick buns. I surpress

a Princess Leia fantasy and she casts her eyes downward when she notices me behind

Mulder, "Come in, Dana's just finishing up." she says, as we follow her inside.

We stand around in awkward silence for a few beats until Agent Scully appears

from the bathroom, all business in a cream colored skirt suit, her bob perfectly coiffed.

"Is it time to go?" she asks, directing her gaze more toward Micki as she breezes icily

past Mulder and picks up her purse from the nightstand.

"Yeah, we should probably head out." I say, stealing another glance at Micki, who

just kills me with more of the cold shoulder. Our eyes meet and she looks away quickly, and

I die a little inside. I can't stand being this way with her. No matter how great last night was,

I find myself wishing that we could go back to our old, safe and comfortable former

relationship. This is just torturous.

*************************************************************

4-21-99 {Mulder}

I am a man who cannot control his urges. I tried for as long as I could, but I

snapped effectively last night. Unlike the other three in my presense with shamed looks

on their faces, I was pretty sober and what I did was inexcusable.

I feel like an ass. Scully was drunk, and I took advantage of her state of being.

I could have said no when she told me she wanted me, but I didn't, and I can already

see that I'm losing her.

I woke this morning after a blissful night of resolved sexual tension (and it was

blissful, gentle reader) with Scully nestled in my arms and a shit-eating grin on my face.

Making love to her was a form of worship and the rewards were great. It was euphoric,

sexy, passionate, wonderful...there aren't adjectives even great enough to descibe what

happened between us. I felt as if every part of me had been made whole.

The incessant ringing of my cell phone interrupted my gazing at her softly

snoozing against my chest, just watching her back rise and fall as she slumbered.

It was too beautiful watching her rest, and I didn't want to interrupt it, so I slowly slid out

from under her and proceeded to answer my phone.

It was Jack, telling me to gather the troops and meet them by the chest. I gave him

directions to the state FBI office, got off the phone and went to slam a cup of coffee before

rousing Micki and Ryan. I figured I'd give them time because they'd probably be pretty

indecent.

I was right, but the air was pretty tense in the room when I got in, and I'm sensing

there's a lot of guilt and possibly regret between those two about what transpired last night,

but they aren't doing a lot of talking.

Then, when Ryan and I made it to Scully and Micki's room, I knew I was in

trouble. Scully won't even look me in the eye, and keeps directing her speech to Micki.

This has continued in the drive out to Portland. We all sit in silence, me driving

and Ryan in the front, Micki and Scully in the back. I can practically feel the deep freeze

emanating from the backseat. Silence is chilly. I click on the radio and randomly flip

through stations, "Hey, do you want to play DJ, buddy?" I ask Ryan, "I want to stay

focused on the road."

We hear a couple of throats clearing from the backseat. "Sure." Ryan says

to me. He glances back at Micki and she averts her eyes to staring out the window.

Ouch. I catch a glance at Scully and she does the same. It's a Ladyspiracy.

This has got to be the most awkward car ride in all of highway history. Ryan

flips around and finally finds something clearer.

_"Doin it, and Doin it, and Doin' it Wild/ _

_I represent Queens she was raised out of Brooklyn..."_

Why do you have to do this to me L.L. Cool J? Have you forsaken me as well?

Way to make it more awkward.

Ryan quickly flips the station and ends up on Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes",

which is a little better, but still carries weird undertones.

Whatever, I guess it follows us everywhere. The weirdness, I mean. We all

seem to carry it like the plague.

_"Suffer innuendoes but there must be something inside..."_

******************************************************************

4-21-99 {Jack}

Rashid and I have gathered everything we need for the ritual to conquer this

demon. We are now pulling in the back parking lot of the state FBI building. We

notice our friends standing next to the Agent's car and pull up next to them, "Let's

get this show on the road." I say to them as I exit the passenger door, "Lead the

way, Agent Mulder."

The Agents miraculously grant us all clearance into the evidence locker and

we are now inside, setting up our candles and etching good luck runes on the area

around the chest. That is, Rashid and I are doing all the work, and the rest of them

are standing around in awkward silence.

I take a good look at them and notice that all four of them have purplish

bruising on their necks, not to mention that the girls are trying to avoid looking at

the boys at all costs.

Oh, children. When the Cat's away, the Mice will play.

I nudge Rashid, "This is going to be easier than we thought, my friend."

I say, nodding covertly in their general direction.

Rashid takes in their state and smiles, "You can take your time, you

know." he says to them, "We're going to be a little while longer. You are friends,

you can talk."

A general collective of sighs and clearing of throats emanates from their

direction, and Micki pulls Agent Scully off to the side and whispers something

that I only partly catch, "...can't do this."

We're almost ready for this to begin. Rashid pulls his signifier cards out

of his Tarot deck and places them near the makeshift altar. As I'm lighting the

last candle, I spy Ryan looking incredibly sad. He's standing on the other side

of the room, looking hopelessly at Micki who is doing her best to focus her line

of vision on Agent Scully or what we're doing.

I decide to relieve Ryan from his heartache and look up, "So sorry to

hear about your parent's divorce, Micki." I say to her.

"How did you know?" Her jaw drops along with Ryan's, and they finally

look at each other.

Rashid begins to chant in Arabic as he sits in a rune protection circle

with his legs crossed.

"I have my ways." I tell her, then look pointedly at the both of them,

"I think you two have a few things to sort out, don't you?"

Ryan mouths "I'm sorry" to her silently and they cross the room to each

other.

"They aren't the only ones, Agents." I say abruptly to the two who have been

standing in frosty silence, catching them off guard.

Agent Mulder locks gazes with Agent Scully, and he lopes his way toward

her, "Whatever it was, I was the asshole, and I'm sorry, Scully." he says, standing

in front of her, "I can't lose you."

"I don't want to lose you, either." she whispers in response with glassy eyes.

Meanwhile, Ryan has Micki with his palms on her shoulders, eyes showing

concern, "Why didn't you tell me? I'm so sorry, baby." He pulls her into a hug.

"I was depressed and didn't want to talk about it." she sniffles into his chest,

a few errant tears running down her cheek, "Besides, what was I supposed to say:

Hey Ryan, my parents are divorced and we're no longer cousins, and guess what,

I'm in love with you?"

At the very same moment, Agent Mulder says, "I love you so much, Scully,

it hurts."

The chest begins to glow brightly and the murmuring voices turn into muffled

screaming of what can only be described as sounding half-man, half-animal.

They momentarily look away toward the chest in distraction. This is not good.

They have to destroy the demon. It's our only chance.

"Do you love them back?!" I yell forcefully.

The four of them turn to stare at me in confusion, "Love conquers the Demon!"

I bark at them, "Do you, Ryan and Scully, love them as well!?"

"Yes." Scully breathes out.

"More than anything on this Earth." Ryan answers as well, kissing Micki on the

top of her head and hugging her tightly.

There's a loud, horrendous screech of a creature in the throws of death and the

chest glows with a molten brightness, blinding us all...

**********************************************************

4-21-1989 {Ryan}

I think we're back! After being temporarily blinded, we appear to be back in the

same barn we were in when this whole mess started. I let out a whoop of joy and Jack

and Micki are both exhibiting surprised laughter.

"You did it, you old goat! How?" I exclaim with a huge smile.

"*You two* did it, and Agents Mulder and Scully, of course." Jack answers

cryptically.

Micki and I look at each other, breaking away from our embrace a little to

throw him a couple of perplexed looks, "We did it?" Micki asks.

"Love conquers the demon, child." Jack recites to us, "The catalyst of the

chest was the demon, which could only be destroyed if two sets of unrequited lovers

declared their love at the same time; with the proper incantations, of course. Only

pure love can destroy a demon of hate. Also, no demon, no killings. No killings,

no tesseract." Jack explains as Micki and I look at each other shyly.

She told me she was in love with me. I feel like a weight has been lifted.

Abso-fuckin-lutely, I feel the same way.

Micki glances at the chest, "Does this mean we can take that to the vault

now?" she asks Jack.

Jack nods and we move to pick it up. Thankfully, it does nothing and we

haul it outside to the Mercedes, still parked a few feet away from the barn.

It's good to be home.

**************************************************

4-21-1999 {Mulder}

After being temporarily blinded, we regain our vision to find Jack, Micki,

and Ryan gone, replaced by a screaming, rapidly decomposing Elaine Duquet.

Scully, Rashid, and I jump back from the howling spectacle and can do nothing

but watch in horror as she quickly disintegrates into a pile of waxy ash on the

floor where the chest used to be. It seems to have disappeared along with our

three amigos.

"It worked?" Scullys says in surprised awe to Rashid, "They're back?"

Rashid nods and starts to blow out the candles in the room, "Yes. They

have returned to their rightful time, and they have you to thank."

"Us? How's that?" I ask, "What did we do?"

Rashid sighs and looks up to the ceiling, "Long story short, you both

admitting your love, plus them doing the same, equals conquering the demon

that ruled the chest." He throws us some rags, "How about helping me wipe

this chalk off the floor, if you please?"

Scully and I exchange bemused glances and shrug, "Sure."

I'm completely happy. I love Scully and she loves me. Our friends are

back, we have an insanely hard report to write up (but what else is new), and

life is good.

***************************************************

4-21-1989 _Early Evening_ {Ryan}

We arrived back at Curious Goods about an hour ago and put away

the chest in a deep, dark corner of the vault that will hopefully never see the

light of day again.

Jack had told us he had been up all night with Rashid preparing and

that he needed a good sleep, and retired downstairs a few minutes ago. Micki

and I are sitting upstairs on her bed together, lounging comfortably with her

head in my lap and my back against the headboard, still wearing our 90's threads

as we talk to each other.

"I still find it crazy that all we had to do was admit that we loved each

other." Micki sighs as she reaches up to run her finger down my cheek, "Well,

and Dana and Mulder, too, I suppose. Jack said it had to happen at the same

time."

"How lucky are we?" I tell her, "If one thing went wrong with that whole

deal, we would have been toast. What if Mulder and Scully weren't there? We

would have had a much harder time."

"Ryan, I think in some weird, myopic way, this was what was supposed

to happen, for us and for them." She sits up and faces me, placing a hand on

either side of my legs, "I'm just wondering how Jack knew about it all."

I lean in to kiss her chastely and smile at her, "You know him. He has

his ways."

Micki pulls back and returns a smile of her own, "Of course. Ryan," she

asks pensively, "About last night...um, well, I just want to say that, um..."

"What?" I urge her. She's acting really strange.

"Well, not to say that it wasn't wonderful, which it was, by the way, but

I was under extreme duress last night, and honestly, I'm really afraid that you

might think I'm a slut." she lets out in one breath.

My jaw drops and I laugh, "What? No! Are you kidding?"

She shakes her head, "I'm not normally like that."

Holy shit, is she ever cute, sitting there in her Princess Leia buns and

wide-eyed, serious look on her face, forever braless under the grey sheath. I

get my arms around her waist and pull her face to face and kiss her mouth,

"I would *never* call you a slut. Sex-on-a-stick, maybe, but never a slut." I

tell her and she thumps my chest with her palm, "If it makes you feel any

better, I did some things with you last night that I'd never done before."

"Really?" she pulls back, bemused.

"Oh yeah," I say, "Though I am disappointed that you aren't 'normally

like that' because 'that' was pretty awesome." I waggle my eyebrows at her and

she laughs, "You could take it a little easier on my back next time, by the way.

I think there's gonna be some scarring." I wince as a particularly painful scratch

makes contact with the wrong part of the headboard.

She giggles, "Oh, poor baby." she unbuttons my shirt and takes it off,

and I sit on the edge of the bed with her behind me as she examines her

handiwork, "We should probably put ointment on these; ooh, I got you pretty

bad. I'm sorry." she gently kisses the back of my neck in apology.

"S'okay. It was worth it." I turn my waist a bit to face her, "I'll take

a few scars and wear 'em like badges of honor. People will ask, 'Where'd you

get that' and I'll say, 'From the first time Micki and I had sex'. I'll be a hero."

I kid her, tugging a little on the hem of her top.

Micki tries to curb the terrific grin that spreads across her face, "You

asshole, you will *not*!" she says, playfully smacking away my hand and

climbing onto my lap, ever careful not to disturb my battle wounds. She wraps

her arms around my neck and I am grateful at the chance of kissing her again.

She grinds a little against me and I snake a hand up her top to cup

her perfect left breast. She gasps prettily, "Ryan!"

I look at her, feeling impish, "I can't help it, they were calling me." I

halfway joke with her between kisses, "Touch me, Ryan, we're so gorgeous

and free, they say."

We have a good laugh, still trying to make out a little and Micki sighs,

"I was thinking; what if the way we were last night is the way we're supposed

to be, like we bring it out in each other." she kisses her way down my neck.

"Like, we wake up each other's inner freak?" I ask.

She looks up and gives me an extraordinarily seductive smirk,

"Something like that." she purrs, locking me into another amazing kiss that

sets me completely on fire.

"I guess we'll never know until we try again." I bait her, "Heya,

Micki..."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you by any chance own a gold bikini?"

*****************************************************

4-21-1999 {Mulder}

All's well that ends well, is the famous motto.

I believe.

Hey, what else is new, right, but I have a lot to be thankful for in

this moment.

Scully and I finished up with Rashid and gave the field agents with

the office a bouillabasey explanation about Micki, Ryan, and Jack, basically

telling them that they were the rightful owners of the chest and took it out

the side door, seeing as we no longer have need for it in this investigation.

Elaine Duquet, on the other hand, is going to require some extreme

effort in explaining when the time comes. Luckily, we have plenty of experience

when it comes to writing up makaab field reports.

Scully and I pounced on each other in the form of a frantic, reaffirming

quickie the minute we got back to the hotel, seeing as we have a couple of

hours before our flight leaves back to D.C. We're currently cuddling naked,

stroking nude flesh softly as we make easy conversation.

"If you told me this was going to happen a week ago, I would have

never believed you." Scully lets out in a voice that reads satisfied but cheerful.

"What, this?" I motion to our state of post-coital bliss, "Or the giant

bag o' crazy that surrounded this turn of events?"

"Both." she answers, reaching up to tap my nose. Scully lays halfway

across my chest, almost stomach to stomach, twining naked legs with mine,

"I can't say I'm not happy with the way this turned out, however."

"Ditto." I agree, smiling, "I bet our friends back in '89 are probably

somewhere feeling the same."

"Yeah, talk about dodging a bullet." Scully purrs, "Yet the resolution

was so simple. It was almost too easy."

I bark out a laugh, "If it was easy, we would have been doing this

years ago." I say to her, moving a titian strand of hair out of her face, "Besides,

if one element of that whole situation was in *any* way different, the outcome

would have been pretty severe."

"So you're saying that fate intervened?" Scully's blues pierce into mine,

and the corners of her mouth tug into a grin.

I nod, "That about covers it. You have to admit that they were pretty

eerily similar to us, in a slightly parallel universe sort of way."

"Yeah, it was a little spooky." she agrees, "Right down to the red and

brown hair ratio."

Scully kisses her way up my chest and neck, and runs her fingers

through the front of my hair, "So, what happens now?"

I raise an eyebrow, "Well, I think we still have a little time before we

have to catch our plane, and I think something's woken up." I indicate my

erection, which is standing at full attention.

I get a full blown laugh out of her, "I love you, Mulder."

"Hey, Love conquers the demon, right?" I joke, "Can you tame this

demon, Scully?"

Fin! I'm Out!

_"How sexy am I now, Motherfucker?!" ~Mallory Knox_


End file.
